Laura Knight

Laura Knight (1877-1970) was one of the most distinguished women artists of the early 20th century with an international reputation. This much-anticipated biography appears at a time of renewed interest in Dame Laura's extensive repertoire. Laura Knight: A Life probes beneath the myths and fictions that have and continue to be woven around the artist. This highly readable and objective biography covers her early years in Nottingham; relationship with her husband Harold; life in the artists colonies of Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast, Laren in Holland and Newlyn in Cornwall; Laura's subsequent immersion in the worlds of the ballet, the circus, the theatre and her travels in Europe and America; her work as a designer of theatrical costume, posters and ceramics; and her role as Official War Artist during World War 11 and recorder of the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-46. The author does more than merely draw the solid lines of Dame Laura's professional and public identity for the reader, she fills in the background, expresses the light and colour of Laura Knight's vibrant personality and, by also exploring the darker shades of her character, gives this portrait of the artist depth and perspective. If you read just one biography of Laura Knight it should be this one.

Contenu

A note on source material � vi Acknowledgements � vii Foreword by R. John Croft � ix Introduction: "I can twist and turn" � 1 Chapter One: "Our unconventional household" � 5 Chapter Two: "Why must girls be pretty?" � 19 Chapter Three: "The only serious girl student" � 33 Chapter Four: "A place and a people apart" � 50 Chapter Five: "Watering the seeds of our ideas" � 70 Chapter Six: "Life was going with a swing" � 82 Chapter Seven: "Daring grew, I would work only in my own way" � 102 Chapter Eight: "Armed with my sketch-book and full of confidence" � 126 Chapter Nine: "To understand, to grasp life with both hands" � 156 Chapter Ten: "A panoramic view - like a half-rolled map" � 178 Chapter Eleven: "Keep going, keep going" � 203 Chapter Twelve: "To hold the excitement and the ecstasy" ������������� 226 Conclusion: "A rainbow shone right into our back yard" � 245 Afterword by David Phillips � 249 List of Exhibitions � 251 Appeal for Information � 252 Select Bibliography � 253 Index � 255